“We will build a million new homes in five years, with at least half a million council homes, through our public investment strategy. We will end insecurity for private renters by introducing rent controls, secure tenancies and a charter of private tenants’ rights, and increase access to affordable home ownership”
Jeremy Corbyn’s bold plans for tackling the country’s housing crisis include investment in council housing with a focus on private sector rent regulation and strengthening tenants’ rights with a key assurance to support homes for vulnerable people and disabled people.
Investing in housing
For decades we have failed to build the homes we need, now we have soaring house prices and rents as demand outstrips supply – and we have failed to provide sufficient numbers of homes for social rent available to citizens on low and median incomes. The withdrawal of local councils as a large scale provider and builder of homes led to a huge drop off in the number of homes being built every year. We need to make sure we are making “homes” not assets.
We will rebuild and transform Britain by building council homes and homes that first-time buyers can afford.
We will build a million new homes in the first five years, with at least half a million council homes, through our strategy of investing £500 billion in our economy, including on housing.
We will look at ways to securely expand local authority mortgage lending.
Where we are investing directly it will be part of our strategy to link housing investment to the creation of decent work.
-Right to Buy has dramatically eroded our council housing stock. We will end Right to Buy, including ending its extension to Housing Associations and the reversing the other de-stabilising measures in the Housing and Planning Act.
We must also return to having regional home building targets to ensure homes are built in every area, so that rural areas benefit from building council homes as well as our urban centres and that no one is left behind and ensure that accessible housing for disabled people is built.
Securing “Generation Rent”
Private rents are soaring and insecure tenancies are a significant cause of homelessness as people become more vulnerable to rip-off landlords in an unregulated market.
We will tackle soaring rents in the private rented sector through regulation
Our new Tenants’ Rights Charter will offer greater protections for “generation rent” by ensuring secure tenancies; outlawing letting agents administration charges; preventing unreasonable rent increases during tenancy and in between contracts; strengthen tenants rights to protect them from unfair evictions; and ensuring that properties in the private rented sector should be subject to a national standard to hold landlords to account over poor or unsafe living conditions. We will bring decent standards to the private rented sector, including ensuring homes are properly insulated.
Keeping a roof over your head
Reforms to welfare policy are increasingly exacerbating the housing crisis, and causing the social cleansing of many cities. The Bedroom Tax and the ‘benefit cap’ should be scrapped.
Measures such as income thresholds triggering rent rises in the social rented sector – the ‘Pay to Stay’ principle – introduced by this Government will be reversed.
We will continue to oppose these cuts that will force the closure of tens of thousands of supported homes for vulnerable and older people.
